NCS New Canaan

Founding Chapter

Practicing Science While Believing and Acting Upon the Scriptures (Dr. James Tour – 12/18/20 – Joint Meeting NCS New Canaan – Austin – Houston – Sugar Land)

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In a joint meeting of NCS New Canaan, NCS Austin, NCS Houston and NCS Sugar Land, Dr. James Tour shares a powerful and convicting message about the importance of meditating daily on God’s word and then actually believing and acting upon Scripture. Pointing to various Biblical passages, including Psalm 1:1-3, he emphasizes the words DAILY (not just three days) and MEDITATING (not just reading).

But this is far from just a theological or theoretical lesson. Through numerous stories, Dr Tour shares vulnerably about the practical and miraculous ways in which his life, his behavior and his career as a world-renowned scientist and teacher have been guided, changed and blessed by meditating on Scripture, believing what God says and then acting in faith upon that belief.

Dr. Tour is also far from just a theoretical or academic scientist. His work has led to numerous breakthroughs, patents and products, and Dr. Tour starts his talk by describing (and showing) some of the extraordinary developments he has led in the field of nanotechnology.

In a rich and extended Q&A, Dr. Tour addresses a wide array of questions dealing with topics such as: how, as a Messianic Jew, he came to a faith in Jesus; the COVID vaccine; artificial intelligence; nanotechnology; the challenges of being a scientist who speaks openly about his faith in Jesus; his weekly Bible study attended by people around the world; and the ethics of “Human 2.0”.

To learn more about Dr. Tour, you can visit his website at www.DrJamesTour.com or his YouTube channel at YouTube/DrJamesTour.

You can download a PDF copy of Dr. Tour’s slides at this link.

James Tour-Scientist Believing Scripture-No VideosDownload

The Incomparable Value of Joy (Dr. Jorge Valdes – 12/4/20 – NCS New Canaan)

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With great transparency, Dr. Jorge Valdes shares the incredible journey that took him: (1) from being the son of a wealthy family in Cuba, (2) to experiencing poverty in the United States and concluding God was not real, (3) to pursuing an education to become a lawyer, (4) to shifting his career path and becoming the #1 cocaine trafficker in the United States, (5) to being tortured for 29 days by General Noriega’s soldiers in Panama, (6) to surrendering his life to Jesus because of a karate instructor who concluded Valdes was the devil incarnate, (7) because of his new-found faith, to choosing to admit his past crimes, which led to being sentenced to seven life sentences and losing all his wealth, (8) to having his mind transformed in prison through reading the Bible, (9) to seeing in prison the tragic division among “Christians” and coming to understand the importance of behavior over words in sharing our faith, (10) to being released and telling his story in the book “Coming Clean”, (11) to regaining wealth through a legitimate business and then walking away from it to invest into the hearts of his children. In telling his story, Valdes stresses that the life of drugs, money and sex is not “his story”–it is just part of his story.

One of the most poignant chapters in Jorge’s remarkable story is the impact of the karate instructor who knew Jesus. Valdes explains that over the course of three years with the instructor, he came to desire to know more about Jesus. Jorge described that it was not because of anything the instructor said–it was because of something he exhibited that Valdes didn’t have with all his money, mansions, planes, bodyguards and women–a joy he thought couldn’t be real.

With tremendous passion, Valdes urges listeners to be authenticate in their Christian walk by investing in people through loving them, regardless of their backgrounds, political views, beliefs. He shares his belief that the world needs more safe places, like NCS, where people can be transparent about their struggles and failings without fear of judgment–places where they can “come clean”, be liberated through the saving grace of Jesus and go on to make a difference in the world by sharing His love.

It is clear that the current chapter of Jorge’s story is one of trying authentically to live his life as a follower of Jesus–sharing God’s story in his life and being a witness through his actions more than his words by loving people, investing in their lives and living without fear in the knowledge that Jesus has already won.

While the allure of joy may be one of the most impactful aspects of Jorge’s talk, one of his comments may be the most thought-provoking–that perhaps Christians should spend less time worrying about “putting Christ back in Christmas” and more time worrying about “putting Christ back in Christians”.

Becoming Free To Heal the World (J. Kevin Butcher – 10/16/20 – NCS New England Chapters)

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[The weekend of Oct 16-18, 2020 was meant to be the 2020 NCS New England Retreat, and J. Kevin Butcher was scheduled to be our Spiritual Guide. Our theme was to be Embrace an “F-Word”: Freedom. The COVID pandemic changed all that, but Kevin graciously and generously agreed to speak to a joint meeting of the NCS New England Chapters on what would have been the first day of the 2020 Retreat (the Retreat is rescheduled for November 5-7, 2021 with Kevin).]

Kevin Butcher is like us because he is an NCS brother (a member of NCS Grosse Pointe). He is like us because he is a man. He is like us because he has struggled with the difference between “knowing Jesus” and “knowing ABOUT Jesus” (and we all know that the lyrics of the NCS theme song “Knowing You” by Graham Kendrick says it is about “knowing Jesus”). He is like us because he spent years filling the emptiness in his heart with all the wrong stuff (none of which works). Kevin shares with tremendous NCS vulnerability his “performance” life and where it led him.

But Kevin Butcher is unlike many of us because he finally “got it”. As he says, our lives begin when we realize God loves us. Butcher explains that we can’t live out the commandment in John 13:34 to love others as Jesus loves us if we have not realized Jesus’s love–not “knowing” in our head He loves us but “experiencing” His love. Kevin emphasizes through stories from his own experience how much the world is broken and hurting, how much people are looking for the healing love of Jesus, even if they don’t know it, and how healing the love of Jesus can be when poured out by us.

Butcher runs through a thought-provoking and heart-wrenching list of the types of things men use to fill the emptiness. He shares that these are “signs” and not things to “fix”–they are “signs” that we are still living in bondage, which means we may be “functional” but we are not “free”.

As we begin to get lost in the pain of seeing ourselves on (or all over) that list, Kevin then provides a path to freedom–the freedom necessary to heal a broken and hurting world by truly loving others as Jesus loves us. That path is focused on three key relationships:

  • Our relationship with ourself (hint: we have to stop lying to ourselves about ourselves)
  • Our relationship with God (hint: we have to see God is an Abba father who loves us)
  • Our relationship with others (hint: we need to move toward one another in the body of Christ to bring and receive healing through love).

Kevin Butcher is coming out with a new book to be released April 6, 2021 called “Free”. Click HERE to visit Kevin’s page at Tyndale House Publishers.

There is another song by Graham Kendrick (who wrote the NCS theme “Knowing You”) that perfectly captures John 13:34–it is called “Love Each Other”. Together, these two songs are a wonderful accompaniment to Kevin’s message. Here are the official lyric videos.

“Dad” Cares (Even in a Pandemic) (Rev. Richard Berry – 5/29/20 – NCS New Canaan)

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Rev. Richard Berry may call himself “just a dumb hick from Skowhegan, Maine”, but he is a country pastor filled with much wisdom, a huge heart for humanity, enormous (yet simple) faith and an endless supply of stories about how “Dad” (what Richard calls God) has shown up in a homeless shelter in central Maine.

We first heard from Richard in 2016 before his first book was released. Since then, he has published three and a fourth is on the way. He comes back to share more stories of hope, human dignity, miracles, joy and self-reflection from the Covid pandemic.  Why should you listen?  For the same reasons you might want to read his books:  If you want to smile, if you need to laugh, if you are willing to cry, if you are lacking hope, if joy seems to be hiding, or especially if you are questioning your belief in God, Jesus or the role of his Church in our world today.

Those interested in learning more (or helping) about Richard’s homeless shelter can visit https://sheltersbyjesus.com or read Richard’s first book “Sheltered by Jesus”, available at this link https://amzn.to/3cdYIL4

Friendship with Jesus (and Each Other) (Mike Timmis – 4/17/20 – NCS New Canaan/NCS Winston-Salem)

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Mike Timmis, a founder of NCS Grosse Pointe and a member of the NCS National Board, reflects on the NCS mission of men pursuing friendship with Jesus and friendship with each other. Mike talks about his own journey of faith and shares why friendship with Jesus is the greatest gift we can give to another person.

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